Once Bitten
by LoneWolf11
Summary: When lonely girl Sheri meets the dark and mysterious Carmen for the first time at the Storybrooke Costume Ball the story of Carmilla begins to unfold once again, with Henry trying to warn Emma of the danger Sheri could be in and a feud between Carmen and the girl's father, is a happy ending even possible? Do monsters even deserve a happily ever after? [Femslash, OC/OC]
1. Chapter 1: The Lonely Girl

A/N: Well this is my first story I've submitted in well nearly a decade now but I want to get back into the swing of things so I can make some headway in getting my original stuff set, now for the usually disclaimer, I own NOTHING in this story as all characters are from either the tvshow One Upon a Time or Sheridan Le Fanu's Carmilla, that being said I should give a warning as well (although I don't see _why_ personally) if you are familiar with the story of Carmilla then you will no that relationships between two women will appear and be discussed, yes that means femslash, although probably nothing explicit. I apologise in advance if any of the characters seem OOC and I'll tell you in advance that this is not betaread.

This is a little test for me to see if I've still got it so I'll wait to see what people say before starting on the next lot of chapters. Enjoy!

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Once Upon a Time

Once Bitten

Chapter One: A Lonely Girl

-_Enchanted Forest-_

Laura sighed softly, her breath misting slightly in the cool mountain air as she gazed forlornly at the small village in the valley below the castle from the window of her room, her head leant against the rough stone wall and a fur cover wrapped around her shoulders and a simple cream tunic with pale yellow skirt pooling around her legs in gentle waves as she let her mind wander.

There were people in that little village; she knew this for a fact as she had passed through many times with her father and a small enterouge of guards, however she'd never actually spoken to anyone. She wondered what their lives were like; surely there were other girls her age that lived there, what did they talk about? What was life actually like when you didn't perpetually have armed men standing stoically around you or your father hovering just over your shoulder?

Laura sighed again, dragging her eyes away from the village to glance about her room, a four-poster bed, pale yellow curtains with gold trim pulled back to reveal a similarly coloured duvet that she knew was almost excessively comfortable, two dark oaken wardrobes painted ivory white sat on either side of the bed a chest sat at the foot of it, while across the room sat an oaken vanity, melancholy green eyes stared back at her from a youthful face, skin as pale as moonlight and framed by light brown hair currently pulled into a loose braid that lay over her shoulder.

A knock on her bedroom door drew her out of her thoughts; she briefly toyed with the idea of just ignoring it but decided against it and with an almost bored "Come in" she turned back to the village.

The door creaked open and she didn't even need to turn to know that it was her father, other than the maid he was the only one to ever visit and the maid had already been by earlier.

"Laura, sweetheart, it's good to see you again." His voice was warm, the affection clear and Laura turned to smile at him. He was a thin man, hair a dignified silver from age and brushed back away from intelligent blue eyes, the years had been kind to him and he grinned warmly down at her, his arms held behind his back.

"Hello father, it's good to see as well. How was your trip to Snow White's?"

"Eventful although I am sure you would find it all very tedious."

"I would have still liked to accompany you, perhaps I could join you next time?" she turned hopeful green eyes on her father but he merely frowned down at her.

"You know it's too dangerous at the moment, even with that man locked away the Evil Queen is still at large."

"But father!" she implored, rising to her full height even though she still barely reached his shoulder, "Why would she have any reason to attack us, we have nothing to offer her and surely we would be safe in Snow White and Prince James' own palace! I'm not a child anymore, I don't underst-"

"NO!" her father's roar dropped her back into her seat and she stared up at him with wide eyes, he closed his own briefly and turned his head away before continuing, much calmer, "There is always the chance of danger, with your mother gone." He paused and Laura could see him visibly fight back tears before he carried on, "I don't know what I would do if anything ever happened to you."

Laura quickly lowered glassy eyes to the floor, her hands fisting her skirt tightly, "I know father but sometimes." Shaking her head lightly, she lifted her eyes to gaze back out the window to the village; she continued on in a much quieter tone, "Sometimes I feel like a prisoner in my own home."

Silence filled the room; she could feel her father watching her as she continued to stare down at the village with sad green eyes.

"There is a masquerade ball in a few days." Laura turned to her father, clear confusion clouding her features at her father's odd segue, he was not meeting her eyes and instead looking out the window to the valley, "I received an invitation for two" hope and excitement bloomed in Laura's chest, her father turned his gaze back to her and smiled warmly, "how would you like to join me?"

She threw herself forward, the fur blanket flying from her shoulders as she gripped her father around the chest in a tight hug, she felt his chuckle rather than heard it with her ear pressed against his chest, "I take it that's a yes?" he whispered gently as he wrapped her in a warm embrace.

-_Storybrooke-_

**Storybrooke Annual Costume Ball**

**Town Hall**

**7:30PM – 1AM**

Emma continued to stare at the poster highlighting the town's annual costume ball posted on the window of the diner, part of her wondered if it were some kind of joke. The door to the diner suddenly opened to reveal Ruby in her usual barely there work "uniform", one dark eyebrow raised as she regarded Emma.

"So, you going to come in or just stare at the window all day?"

Shaking her head and smiling slightly Emma merely nodded towards the poster before following the younger woman into the building and up to the counter. "So, what's with the whole costume ball thing? Halloween isn't for months yet."

Ruby glanced up at Emma from where she had started to wipe down the counter before shrugging, "Its town tradition, this time every year we have it."

Before Emma could question further she was distracted by the door opening and closing quickly as Mary-Margaret rushed in, multiple rolls of paper clutched under her right arm with still more stuffed into a satchel hanging off of her free shoulder, her cheeks were rosy from the cold and exertion.

"Hey Ruby, coffee to go please" she turned to Emma with a smile as Ruby got to work preparing her order, "Hey Emma."

Emma nodded her greeting as she took in the other woman's rather haggard appearance and the fact that she was obviously in a rush to get somewhere, "Busy?" she asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Yeah, I've still got more posters to put up, then I've got to help with the decorations and I still need to get some volunteers to help out on the actual night."

Emma's other eyebrow shot up, "I'm guessing this is for the costume ball?"

Mary-Margaret turned to the blond with a look of surprise before shaking it off with a wry smile, "Sorry, I forgot to tell you about it." She pulled her slipping satchel further onto her shoulder before continuing, "The school and church hold it every year to raise funds, we put it to a vote and all the kids chose to hold the ball, they even help make some of the decorations for the night."

Ruby placed the to-go coffee cup on the counter and leaned over with her arms crossed and a grin spreading across her face, "It's actually pretty fun, and we supply most of the buffet although some of the other local businesses do help out."

Emma smiled at the thought and was about to offer her own assistance when they were interrupted by a quiet, feminine voice.

"Excuse me, Ms Blanchard?"

They turned to find a young woman no older than 18 he was even shorter than Mary-Margaret, her hair was a light brown and cut so short that it barely brushed her shoulders although her bangs were long enough that she had to brush them out of her pale green eyes while her skin was almost as pale as the school teacher's.

Mary-Margaret smiled gently at the shy girl, tilting her head slightly to the side "Hi Sheri, you know you can just call me Mary-Margaret right?" at that Ruby grinned broadly at the shorter girl "Hey Sher!"

Sheri smiled shyly at the older women and raise a hand to brush her bangs from her eyes again while nodding her understanding to the school teacher, "Hi Ruby", she turned to Emma and greeted her with a polite nod and a quiet "Sheriff Swan" with her left hand still playing with the hair over her ear in a rather obvious nervous gesture, her other arm stuffed into her denim jacket's pocket.

She turned back to Mary-Margaret before continuing, "I heard you were looking for volunteers to help at the costume ball, I'd like to help out if that would be alright."

The school teacher smiled brightly and nodded towards the younger brunette, "Sure, it'd be a great help!"

"Sure your dad'll let you stay up that late? Isn't it past your curfew?" Ruby smirked at the younger girl teasingly and her cheeks flared red as she glanced away with a slight mumble that sounded suspiciously like "hopefully".

Taking pity on the girl Mary-Margaret grabbed her coffee and then asked "why don't you help me with the posters and then I'll talk to your dad for you?" at that Sheri smiled thankfully at her before nodding goodbye to the other two women as the pair left.

"Hopefully he'll let her go, girl needs some fun in her life", Emma turned to stare incredulously at Ruby's words, noting the look the brunette explained "Sheri got really sick a couple years back, it was a big scare to her dad but ever since he kind of treats her like she's made out of glass, barely ever lets her out of his sight, me and the girls try to include her as much as possible but…" she trailed off and then continued with an almost exasperated air "Honestly, I'm surprised he wasn't here with her."

"Poor kid"

OOO

When Mary-Margaret and Sheri arrived at her father's jewellery store they were greeted by a rather large man with greying black hair cut very short and a well-trimmed moustache. He grinned at the two women as they walked in the door; he had a dark green tool-kit sitting next to him as he worked on the hinges of one of the stores jewellery cases.

"Kiddo, Mary-Margaret"

The pair nodded in greeting to the joiner before Mary-Margaret asked, "Good to see you Mike, I wanted to ask Sheri's father something."

With a brief nod towards the school teacher the large man then bellowed toward the back of the store, "OY! JOE!" shortly after a distinguished looking man with silver hair and wearing brown waistcoat over a cream shift and brown tie entered from the back of the room, he smiled instantly upon seeing Sheri.

"Sweetheart!" he then turned a friendly smile to Mary-Margaret, "Ah, Ms Blanchard, to what do I owe this pleasure? You don't often visit my little shop."

Mary-Margaret smiled at the man and gave a slight nod, "Well Mr Le Fanu, I was hoping you'd let Sheri assist us with the costume ball at the town hall."

At that the older man frowned, glancing at his daughter who dropped her gaze before turning his eyes back to the school teacher who continued to smile at him, "I don't know Ms Blanchard, it carries on well into the night and I'd rather prefer my daughter not be walking the streets at that time."

"Please dad" Joseph Le Fanu turned to his daughter who looked up at him with pleading green eyes and his frown deepened.

"Now Sheri, we've talked about this-"

"Oh come on Joe!" the large man interrupted as he stood up and put one large arm around the much smaller girl making her seem even smaller by comparison, "let the kid have some fun, it's not like she's gonna be surrounded by strangers! Hell, if you're that worried why don't you go as well, it is for charity you know!"

The silver haired man crossed his arms over his chest and raised his gaze to a corner of the room with a frown, all was silent for a few moments before he spoke again, "Fine, but on one condition-" before he could even finish he found himself in a tight hug by his daughter over the display case of his store.

"Anything daddy!" her voice was muffled slightly by her face being pressed against his chest and he couldn't help the gentle smile that graced his face as he smiled down at his only child.


	2. Chapter 2: The Masks We Wear

A/N: Thanks for the reviews and as a treat here's chapter two! I should tell you now that my updates wont always be as prompt because I do have other commitments, I will try to be as prompt as possible though.

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Chapter Two: Masks We Wear

-_Enchanted Forest-_

The room was filled with hundreds of people in all manners of brightly coloured suits and elaborate dresses, their faces hidden away by masks in every shape imaginable, the great hall of the palace was decorated in a rainbow of colours with the ceiling sparkling as though it were the night sky itself and Laura took it all in with eyes that sparkled with wonder beneath the simple white opera mask that kept the upper half of her face hidden. Everything was almost overwhelming, the people, the colours, the music, so completely unlike anything she had ever witnessed before.

She was not normally one for extravagance and she couldn't help but feel slightly self-conscious and underdressed compared to the other partygoers in her simple pale yellow dress with its slight golden trim a large similarly coloured ribbon wrapped around her waist, her hair done in its usual loose braid that hung over her shoulder, her hand constantly toying with it in a nervous habit. The only extravagance she chose to wear was that of silk choker, a brilliant ruby inlaid at the front, her mother's.

"You look beautiful my dear"

Her father's warm voice drew her attention from the other guests and towards the man to her right, he was dressed in pale yellow jacket with golden trim and tassels at the shoulders that gave it a vaguely militaristic feel, his trousers plain and white while his face was hidden behind a bronze coloured mask that hid his eyes and cheeks. He smiled down at her and she smiled back, her cheeks heating slightly but his eyes soon began roam almost suspiciously over the other guests and Laura felt her stomach drop.

"Now remember sweetheart, stay close to me at all times"

She sighed softly as she turned back to look out at the other guests, "yes father". She followed the older man further into the room and stood by silently as he spoke to other masked individuals, probably dignitaries from other kingdoms or fellow dukes.

It was the fourth such meeting that the thought came to her, she waited until her father moved onto the next masked couple, both dressed elaborately in purple and violet, the woman's hair done up in a style that Laura was positive must have taken her most of the day to achieve and that was if it wasn't just some strange hat to go with the strange twisting mask that she wore. Positive her father was no longer paying attention to her she slowly backed away, making sure to draw as little attention to herself as possible she disappeared into the crowd.

Smiling softly to herself at her great escape she began to take in the room again, watching others as she danced and far too nervous to attempt it herself even if she had a partner, instead she attempted to see if she could recognise any of the masked individuals. Near the centre of the room she spotted a woman whom she was positive was Snow White if her alabaster skin and dark hair were anything to go by, her dress was the purest of white and highlighted in blue but was relatively simple despite her station and the man next to her and dressed in silver would have to be Prince James, their masks were matching and resembled bird's wings, silver for James and white for Snow. They appeared to be talking to a tall, slender, dark haired woman in a scarlet dress with a red cloak covering her shoulders, her mask was odd and although Laura couldn't be absolutely positive she was relatively sure it resembled a wolf.

"People watching my dear?"

An accented voice that brought to mind dark silk whispered in her ear and made her gasp as she spun around in mild fright and as she did so her eyes widened at the woman before her.

She was easily a head taller than Laura with hair as black as raven feathers that reached nearly to her hips; her wore a pure black dress that clung to her curves and left her shoulders bare and revealed tan skin with her arms covered by black silk gloves that reached well past the elbow, most of her face was hidden by a black mask in the curious shape of a cat's ears and behind it were a pair of impossibly dark eyes. Everything about her was dark, almost as though she were a shadow given life.

Laura opened her mouth to speak but her breath caught in her throat and her cheeks filled with blood, the dark woman grinned at her revealing brilliantly white teeth as she leaned into Laura's personal space and the younger woman had the distinct feeling of being a mouse before a hungry feline.

"What's the matter my sweet, cat got your tongue?"

Swallowing almost audibly and shaking her head to regain some sense, Laura attempted to speak again and her cheeks flared redder at the stammer in her voice, "Y-yes, um…who are you?"

The dark haired woman chuckled warmly as she leaned back away from Laura with a smirk, her impossibly dark eyes never leaving Laura's.

"That, my sweet, is a secret", she regarded the younger woman for a moment before reaching out one gloved hand toward her, "would you like to dance?"

Laura dropped her eyes from the woman in black, her own pale yellow gloved arms wrapping around her waist, "I don't know how…" she trailed off, waiting for the other woman to lose interest.

"But would you like to?"

At that Laura looked back up to meet the woman's eyes, she was smiling warmly at her and she once again found her breath catching at how beautiful and gentle it made the other woman. She raised a hand tentatively and placed it in a dark gloved one and said, with a barely there whisper, "Yes".

The other woman continued to smile as she led Laura to the dance floor and once there she spun to face her with an almost unearthly grace, her free hand dropping to Laura's hip and leaving the younger woman no other choice but to place her own upon her shoulder. Much to Laura's surprise the skin was almost cool to the touch, as though the other woman had just come in out of the cold, it was a gentle coolness which seemed to emanate from her entire body and Laura inexplicably found herself relaxing into the soft embrace as the taller of the pair began to lead her in the same slow waltz as the other couples.

Laura soon lost track of time as the two danced, held loosely in the other woman's grasp as she stared with an almost hypnotic trance into a pair of vaguely predatory dark eyes, her cheeks still suffused with warmth and her heart hammering in her chest for some unknown reason. It was near the end of their third or possibly fourth dance that the dark silk voice of the other woman spoke once again.

"I think I shall go outside to take in the night air before I retire for the evening, would you care to join me, my sweet?"

Laura had to almost physically fight back the urge to reply with a yes but it had been some time since she left her father's side, he would surely have noticed that she was missing and disappearing for an undetermined amount of time with the dark woman would hardly help matters once she returned to him.

"I'm sorry…" she trailed into a pause as she dropped her gaze to the side, finding it extremely hard to speak when looking into the other woman's eyes, "but I need to return to my father, I doubt he'd approve of my disappearing for too long"

"Do you always do what daddy tells you?" she could almost hear the smirk in the other woman's voice, as she turned back to look at her she noticed a flash of something in her eyes but it was gone almost as soon as it appeared while the dark woman released her and stepped back, smirking at her she continued with a bow "till we meet again, my sweet" and with that she took off in an almost glide into the surrounding crowd, disappearing with such speed that it was as though she was never there to begin with.

-_Storybrooke-_

Emma sighed for what must have been the tenth time that night, sitting at the door to the main hall of the Town Hall and regretting the fact that she agreed to Mary-Margaret's request to work "security" for the night almost as much as she regretted letting Ruby talk her into actually getting dressed up for the event.

She was currently dressed the part of sheriff, if she were in the old west. She wore a cream shirt beneath a brown waist coat, her badge clipped to the breast and a pair chaps over her usual jeans while her Stetson currently sat on the table next to her. She had her arms folded in front of her, one arm raised so she could rest her cheek against it in abject boredom.

The sound of the door opening barely had her reacting but her eyes did drift to it in time to see Regina Mills step in dressed, in Emma's opinion, as a cross between some kind of queen and a witch, all in black, although perhaps there was a bit of dominatrix mixed in, what with all the leather that was included.

"Madam Mayor" she nodded towards the other woman as she stopped directly ahead of her, "I'm surprised you're here, you don't seem like the fancy dress type", she raised an eyebrow along with her free hand in a silent request for a ticket.

"Miss Swan, I am not completely heartless and this _is_ for charity and the school which Henry attends", she smiled falsely at the blond as she handed over her ticket and then pushed past and through the double doors to the hall.

Emma sighed again, "This is going to be a _long_ night"

OOO

Mary-Margaret smiled at Ruby dressed in her Red Riding Hood costume, if you could call it that seeing as there was so little of it, as she walked past the refreshment table the younger woman was manning before continuing on. So far everything was going smoothly, the hall had been decorated fully, the band had arrived and set up with plenty of time before the first attendees appeared, even Leroy appeared to be behaving himself even if it he wasn't exactly in high spirits.

Not watching where she was going she bumped into someone and as she looked up to apologise she came face to face with David Nolan, wide eyed she stumbled over her words before finishing with a mumbled "sorry" and an awkward smile, her hands clasped in front of her.

"No problem," David smiled down at her and then grinned slightly, "Snow White, right?"

Looking down at herself, Mary-Margaret fanned out her dress slightly, she was wearing the blue and yellow outfit of the Disney cartoon, she then looked back up at David and took in the white and silver of his own outfit, completely with a cape which was currently draped over his left shoulder, she couldn't help but smile as she said, "Prince Charming I assume?"

He gave a slight nod just as the lights dimmed slightly almost as if on cue, the music slowed and all around them couples stepped in close as they began to dance more intimately. David glanced around before returning his smile to Mary-Margaret and with a raised hand asked, "May I have this dance?"

The shorter brunette smiled and with the slightest of nods responded with "You may" as she place her hand in his and stepped forward into a light embrace as the pair began to dance. It felt right, to Mary-Margaret, to be held in his arms like this and almost vaguely familiar although she couldn't remember why as she was positive the two had never done anything like this before.

As they continued to sway to the music she finally raised her eyes to meet with his and for the briefest of moments the whole world seemed to disappear from around them and the pair slowly began to lean in.

"May I cut in?"

An almost teasing voice rang out beside them and broke the trance that they were both in, beside them dressed in a flowing dress with a similar colour combination as David stood Kathryn Nolan and beside her Mayor Mills.

Guiltily the shorter woman stepped away from him and smiled awkwardly at the blond with an overly bright "Go right ahead!"

Kathryn smiled at the school teacher before taking her place in her husband's arms, the pair dancing off into the slowly growing crowd and leaving the brunette with the Mayor as the two matched the married couple.

"I'm sure I don't need to remind you, Miss Blanchard that he _is_ a married man", the Mayor turned to the other woman with a smile that the school teacher thought was a little too satisfied with the situation. Glancing once more at the couple she turned to the Mayor with a tense back and said as clearly as she could around the lump forming in her throat, "No, you don't Madam Mayor" and with that she stalked off to continue her rounds, never seeing the satisfied smile on the other woman's lips broaden at her back.

OOO

Sheri watched the party from a shadowed area of the hall, even though she was able to attend the ball thanks to being a volunteer, she somehow didn't feel like she was actually a part of it, she hadn't even really dressed up, all she had done was buy a headband with a pair of fuzzy cat ears along with a tail that clipped onto the back of her jeans.

"You don't look like you're enjoying yourself kitten"

Jumping slightly at the almost silken voice next to her she turned to find a woman that could have easily been a model, she was at least a head taller than Sheri and dressed in what appeared to be a tailored Victorian style suit, a black cape with red lining that nearly brushed her ankles was draped over her shoulders while her black hair, the colour of raven feathers, was tied back in a high pony tail. Her eyes however where what arrested Sheri's attention the most, they were currently highlighted by a good amount of purple eye liner but even that wasn't what caught her attention, they were almost impossible dark, like twin pools of liquid shadow.

Sheri could only stare and as the woman's smirk grew at her silence she felt her cheeks flare with heat and silently cursed her pale complexion from making her embarrassment so obvious.

The dark haired woman chuckled as she crossed her arms over her chest and leant against the wall before asking with a raised eyebrow "Does my beauty astound you kitten?"

Sheri opened her mouth to reply but no sound escaped which only made her cheeks flare even redder as she lowered her own eyes from the other woman's dark gaze.

"Well aren't you just adorable, there's no reason to be so shy kid," Sheri looked up at the other woman again who was now smiling at her, it was gentle and seemed to soften her entire being making the dark woman much more approachable although Sheri's heart still thundered on in her chest, "I'm Carmen, Carmen Rouxstein".

Bowing her head slightly the shorter girl managed a barely there whisper of "Sheri".

"So you can talk!" the younger girl glanced up at Carmen through her bangs, her left hand rising to fiddle with them nervously as the dark woman smirked at her before glancing behind her and letting out what appeared to be an annoyed sigh.

Carmen turned her gentle smile on Sheri again before speaking, "Although I'd love to stay and chat more it looks like I'll have to head" pushing away from the wall she gave an exaggerated bow, lifting one side of her cape as she did so and looking at Sheri from under her eyelashes "I look forward to seeing you again, Sheri" with that she straightened and walked off, although glided would probably be a more accurate description.

Sheri watched Carmen go, she walked past a man who appeared to be Father Fitz, the local minister, but even as he turned to the dark girl she seemed to completely ignore him. Carmen's gentle smile returned to Sheri's mind and all she could think was one simple observation.

Her smile never reached her eyes.


End file.
